The 4th International Conference on
Ethiopian Development Studies

The Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education and the Center for African Development Policy Research (CADPR) at Western Michigan University (WMU) announce the 4TH International Conference on the Challenges of Peace and Development in Ethiopia and Northeast Africa planned for August 2-4 on WMU’s Kalamazoo campus. The biennial conference continues on a tradition founded when the first was convened in August 2001 at WMU, which was followed up by the co-sponsorship of the Institute of Development Research (IDR) at Addis Ababa University in 2003, and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in 2005.

        
photos courtesy of www.ethiopiafirst.com

Ethiopia, with 75 million people, is the second most populated country in Africa and is located in Northeast Africa, also known as the Horn of Africa. This area includes Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti, and Greater Northeast Africa includes Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The sub-region is one of the most strategic areas of Africa and the global economy. It is a bridge between Africa and the Middle East, as well as the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. It is a culturally and historically rich region of the world with great natural resource potential. It is a region of great diversity in culture, languages, and religions. In spite of these potentials, it is currently one of the poorest and unstable sub-regions of Africa. The region suffers from conflicts and violence within and among the states caused by internal and external factors.

The objectives of the conference are to:

• Raise awareness about and enhance the understanding the critical issues that affect Ethiopia and Northeast Africa

• Provide a forum for constructive and informed dialogue on key policy options for sustainable development and peace

• Foster the exchange of research papers by scholars and researchers including graduate students on the various dimensions of development

• Build consensus on policy options that are crucial for future progress toward conflict resolution, development, peace building and democratic governance both among states and within the states of the Horn, including understanding the relationship between the United States and Northeast Africa States

• Organize panels or sessions on various topics of the general conference theme including peace building and conflict resolution

The conference is a multidisciplinary program for academics, policy makers, investors, donors, students and the public interested in contemporary issues in Ethiopia and Northeast Africa in particular and in Africa in general. Selected papers will be published on Conference Proceedings. A few papers following a peer review will be considered for publication in a new online journal entitled Journal of Ethiopian Development Studies (JEDS).

The tentative co-sponsors of the 2007 conference include academic departments and units of Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Kalamazoo College, and the Ethiopian Development Studies Association and other non-profit organizations in Michigan. The confirmed list of co-sponsors will appear in the final conference program and on the conference website.